Molniya (russian: молния, translation=lightning) was an explosive device used to

booby trap A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...

certain buried or otherwise concealed containers used by the

KGB The KGB (russian: links=no, lit=Committee for State Security, Комитет государственной безопасности (КГБ), a=ru-KGB.ogg, p=kəmʲɪˈtʲet ɡəsʊˈdarstvʲɪn(ː)əj bʲɪzɐˈpasnəsʲtʲɪ, Komitet gosud ...

to cache items, such as

shortwave radio Shortwave radio is radio transmission using shortwave (SW) radio frequencies. There is no official definition of the band, but the range always includes all of the high frequency band (HF), which extends from 3 to 30 MHz (100 to 10 me ...

receivers,

cryptographic Cryptography, or cryptology (from grc, , translit=kryptós "hidden, secret"; and ''graphein'', "to write", or '' -logia'', "study", respectively), is the practice and study of techniques for secure communication in the presence of adve ...

materials, and allegedly even suitcase nuclear devices. A sequence of specific actions had to be taken in the correct order to render the device safe prior to moving or opening the container, or the device would automatically

detonate Detonation () is a type of combustion involving a supersonic exothermic front accelerating through a medium that eventually drives a shock front propagating directly in front of it. Detonations propagate supersonically through shock waves with s ...

. This detonation was designed to be lethal to anyone in its immediate proximity, as well as being sufficient to destroy all materials in the cache. From at least 1955 to the 1970s, such caches were allegedly pre-positioned in many countries — including confirmed locations in the United States and Switzerland — for planned terrorist and

sabotage Sabotage is a deliberate action aimed at weakening a polity, effort, or organization through subversion, obstruction, disruption, or destruction. One who engages in sabotage is a ''saboteur''. Saboteurs typically try to conceal their identitie ...

acts during the

Cold War The Cold War is a term commonly used to refer to a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc. The term '' cold war'' is used because the ...

. At least some were booby-trapped with "Molniya". One such cache, identified by KGB defector

Vasili Mitrokhin Vasili Nikitich Mitrokhin (russian: link=no, Васи́лий Ники́тич Митро́хин; March 3, 1922 – January 23, 2004) was a major and senior archivist for the Soviet Union's foreign intelligence service, the First Chief Dir ...

, exploded when Swiss authorities fired upon it using a

water cannon A water cannon is a device that shoots a high-velocity stream of water. Typically, a water cannon can deliver a large volume of water, often over dozens of meters. They are used in firefighting, large vehicle washing, riot control, and mining ...

. The device was found in the woods near

Belfaux Belfaux (; frp, Bélfox, locally ) is a municipality in the district of Sarine in the canton of Fribourg in Switzerland. Its former German name was ''Gumschen'', but this is no longer in use. History Belfaux is first mentioned in 12th centu ...

. Although the explosion resulted in no casualties, the Swiss federal prosecutor at the time remarked, "Anyone who tried to move the KGB container uncovered in December of 1998 would have been killed."House Armed Services Committee No. 106-32, "Russian Threat Perceptions and Plans for Sabotage Against the United States", 26OCT1999.
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References

{{reflist Soviet inventions Weapons of the Soviet Union KGB Area denial weapons

See also

References